Anyone who has ever used the Internet knows both the opportunities
and the problems it presents. A wealth of data is easily
accessible--if you have the time and patience to find it and process
it into useful business information. Content is often difficult to
locate; Web sites are frequently too busy to accept additional
log-ons; networks go down and interrupt sessions.

These problems stem from the fact that today's Internet is a
passive network. The Internet merely makes information available; it
is still up to the user to go out and get it. Productivity on today's
Internet is still connection-dependent. Tools such as browsers and
applets are only useful while the connection is live, and still
require manual interaction with the user.

Compounding the problem is the fact that the Internet is still
largely unsecured. Security technology development has focused on
online commerce and financial transactions, while other critical
security issues, such as privacy and accountability, still need to be
fully addressed.

It's Becoming a Business
Issue

Competitive businesses can no longer afford to view these issues
as mere inconveniences to users or temporary roadblocks. As the
number of Internet users, Web sites, and corporate intranets
continues to grow, the inherent latencies and perceived risks of
using the Internet are beginning to add up to serious cost in terms
of lost productivity.

Clearly, there is a tremendous opportunity for forward-looking
companies to gain a competitive advantage by providing engaging
information and services while maximizing security and productivity
on the Internet. And that is why many organizations are now
investigating "active" agent-based technologies for their Web sites
and corporate networks.

Activating the Network: Business
Benefits

An active network enables users to delegate tasks to agents, which
proactively seek out and retrieve requested information. When the
agents locate the information, they notify the user via email, pager,
or fax, and the user can simply log on to the designated server and
views or downloads the information.

The key opportunity agent-based technology presents for businesses
is the ability to offer proactive network services to both internal
and external network users. These services can help the company
improve employee productivity, as well as distinguish itself and
enhance its reputation for superior customer service.

For example, with agent technology a newspaper could offer a
classified advertising service that actually matches potential buyers
with sellers, rather than simply posting an ad. A brokerage firm
could offer a service that continuously monitors specified stock
prices and alerts a customer when a given threshold is crossed. Or a
company could use agents in its order entry system to automatically
check inventory and update shipping. The possibilities are limitless.

Moreover, agent technology presents an opportunity for businesses
to allocate their networking resources more efficiently. For example,
administrators can use agent technology to establish policies about
when and how various users can access the site. Permissions can be
designated for specific types of agents based on time of day, source
location of the agent, or specific user names.

Similarly, agents can be programmed to visit certain sites only at
certain times, or to stay on the site for limited periods of time.
When permissions can be controlled with fine granularity, resource
use is more predictable and stable, so businesses can make more
informed decisions about capacity and load balancing.

Agent technology gives organizations the opportunity to go beyond
simply offering content; it allows them to offer a proactive,
full-service Web site. By making interactive Web services available,
companies can raise the value of their content because their Web
applications will deliver higher productivity and convenience to end
users. Enterprises can deploy secure, distributed services on the
corporate intranet, enabling it to better serve both internal and
external customers. And businesses can position themselves to take
full advantage of the emerging new paradigm in network computing.

Core Requirements for Effective Agent
Technology

A variety of special purpose, agent-based technologies are now
under development or on the market. However, they vary greatly in
their ability to solve the key challenges users face in accessing and
using network services.

General Magic believes that to be truly productive and effective
delivery vehicles for interactive services, agents must have three
key characteristics. They must be:

&128;Active--Agents should have the ir own thread
of control, allowing them to travel anywhere on any type of network,
interact with other agents. as they visit multiple sites.

&128;Persistent--If the network is up, agents
should attempt to perform their tasks continuously until they succeed
or untile the Web site manager suspends their operations, or until
the user asks them to stop. If the network is down, the agent should
maintain its instructions and resume its attempts to fulfill the
request once the network comes back up. The user should be able to
"fire and forget" the request; the user interaction should not be
connection dependent and should be able to be decoupled from the
task.

&128;Secure--A complete spectrum of security
measures should be available, including twp-way authentication, which
ensures that every agent acts only on the user's authority and has
privileges only on authorized sites; access control and privacy
features, which ensure that agents have no direct access to system
resources and that access to any resource is always predefined and
controllable; and fine-grained controls that enable developers and
operators to govern resource consumption and uniquely identify
agents.

General Magic's Answer to Customer
Requirements

General Magic is currently the only company that delivers on the
full spectrum of requirements for interactive Internet services. The
company's Tabriz agent products, based on the innovative Telescript
programming language, allow developers to create agents that are
truly active, persistent, and secure.

The next section provides details about the cornerstone products
of the Tabriz line: Tabriz AgentWare and Tabriz Agent Tools. This
discussion is followed by an in-depth examination of the key
competitive advantages of Tabriz technology.